A carriage from Shangguan Mansion. Naturally Shangguan Yee was the person sitting inside.
Sure enough, Qin Yunuan saw Shangguan Yee, who was very well-dressed today, coming down from the carriage. The ruby hairpin clanged, making a nice silver-bell-like sound.
Right at that moment, Shangguan Yee looked up to see Qin Yunuan and Qin Yunzhuang who were here for the banquet. She suddenly figured an unnoticeable grin, with some sort of excitement and joy in it, but also some kind of creep. Qin Yunuan had always felt that since the death of Shangguan Rang, even though Shangguan Yee had restored the lively and cheerful look in front of other people, her glance was no longer pure anymore. It had been mixed with some complication of jealousy, hatred and unwillingness.
“You’re actually here too.” Shangguan Yee lifted her head and looked at Qin Yunzhuang, who was wearing a heavy makeup, with contempt at the corner of her mouth, “The Dou Family had gone down, and yet you have the mood to attend a banquet?”
“Aren’t you here too?” Qin Yunzhuang was not willing to be outdone. This was her first confrontation with Shangguan Yee. Although she already knew that her relationship with Shangguan Yee had long been broken, and this confrontation was inevitable, she still felt uneasy as she saw the completely different Shangguan Yee.
Suddenly, looking at Qin Yunzhuang’s gorgeous dress, Shangguan Yee suddenly understood why Qin Yunuan would tolerate Qin Yunzhuang to come together with her, and an arrogant smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She said to Qin Yunuan, “You are really a true master.”
The sentence was completely nonsense, but it made Qin Yunuan bow slightly and made Qin Yunzhuang inexplicably nervous. As soon as she thought about the words Qin Linfeng told her while holding her in his arms. Saying that he would get into the palace with her to protect her secretly, her heart seemed to relax a bit again.
When the three of them rushed to the banquet, it had already begun.
The Queen Mother of Qi nowadays was the sister of the old princess of Prince Ning’s Mansion. They were both born in the pure and noble lineage of Duke Jingguo’s Mansion. However, although the two shared the same mother, their relationship was not as solid as the outsiders imagined.
It was reasonable though. The Queen Mother was a true heroine. She did not only give birth to a son and a daughter for the previous Emperor, but also followed the previous Emperor to war. She was pregnant when the Qi army was about to lose in the war, yet she played the battle drum in the rain of arrows, which largely boosted the morale of the soldier. They eventually won more by less and achieved this military miracle. That war was the most crucial one for Qi to conquer the Central Plains. Right after that, Qi had completely forced North Di to the north of Luguan and unified the Central Plains.
Such a Queen Mother was undoubtedly shining and courageous, that her deeds were also written in the history of Qi and the female disciplines and training for the enlightenment of young ladies.
While the old princess of Prince Ning’s Mansion was also a strong woman. She followed Prince Ning to settle the rebellion and made suggestions and tactics. The story of her protecting Chanzhou City on her own was widely told among the people. There was even an exaggerating saying that if it hadn’t been for the sisters of Duke Jingguo’s Mansion, it would have needed 20 extra years for Qi to unify the Central Plains.
The more similar they were, the more complicated the relationship between the two heroic figures would become, especially between these two clever women.
When Qin Yunuan got seated, the old princess of Prince Ning’s Mansion was making a toast to the Queen Mother, “Congratulations, sister, for recovering from the illness. I wish you a long life and good health.”
Qin Yunuan was very clear about what the old princess of Prince Ning’s Mansion meant by “illness.” It was the Dou Family, which the previous Emperor and the Queen Mother regarded as poisonous tumors since the establishment of Qi.
The Queen Mother’s glance inadvertently fell on Qin Yunuan, who had just arrived. As a reply to the toast of the old princess of Prince Ning’s Mansion, she lifted the glass and replied openly, “Thanks to the treatment of the wonderful doctor, I have recovered so quickly.” After she finished her sentence, she happily drank half a glass of fruit wine.
The old princess smiled and replied, “It’s best for you to drink less, sister. Don’t get drunk, it’s harmful for the body.”
“Harmful for the body?” the Queen Mother smiled slightly, “I’ve always been drunk, always harming myself. What harm could it do?”
“Why did you say that, sister?”
The Queen Mother just smiled at the old princess, but didn’t reply. She suddenly looked at Qin Yunuan, looking surprised and delighted, “You’re finally here, Third Miss Qin.”
Qin Yunuan quickly got up and bowed, “There was a delay on the way, please forgive me, Queen Mother.”
The information network of the Queen Mother was far-reaching. Her people already told her what had happened by the gate of the Qin’s Mansion, so she naturally knew the real reason why Qin Yunuan came late. She didn’t even bother looking at the well-dressed Qin Yunzhuang, and said, “It’s good that you’re here. I’ve previously heard General Leng talking about how virtuous and elegant Third Miss Qin is. Now that I’ve seen you, I could tell that it’s true. You really are a nice lady. General Leng has a good taste.”
The Queen Mother was excited, and Empress Chen echoed, “I’ve heard that Third Miss Qin had contributed to eradicating the Dou Family, is that true?”
Empress Chen smiled dignifiedly. Sure enough, it didn’t rain but it pours. Qin Yunuan’s fingers trembled slightly. Qin Yunzhuang was sitting right beside her. It would be chaotic to talk about her contribution in eradicating the Dou Family in front of Qin Yunzhuang.
Qin Yunuan nodded and said with a smile, “I’ve always believed that heaven helps whoever is on the right path and destroys whoever is on the wrong path. Nevertheless, my legal mother was from the Dou Family. It’s not the most appropriate for me to talk about the eradication of the Dou Family.” On one hand, she expressed her own opinion and attitude. The Dou Family secretly controlled the government, colluded with the East Qin assassins and threatened the imperial power, it was karma that they got eradicated. On the other hand, she had expressed her stance. Qin Yunuan gave a perfect answer, from the country’s point of view and the family’s point of view.
However, Qin Yunzhuang who was beside her was shaking. What did Qin Yunuan just say? Was the Dou Family eradicated?
Eradication meant total slaughter for the clan. All the family members, even the students of her grandfather, would be implicated. Then mother must have been….
Just when she was absent-minded, Qin Yunzhuang accidentally knocked over the wine glass beside her. The turquoise fruit wine splashed out of the cup with a snap, and quickly flowed down the table.
“Oh, my clothes,” Qin Yunzhuang screamed and stood up, utterly embarrassed while patting her skirt covered with fruit wine and leaning backwards.
But it happened that Qin Yunzhuang specially wore an extremely magnificent long skirt today, and wore a thick layer of yarn clothes in this summer day. Right now, she was like a crazy butterfly running around, crashing into people to her left and right.
“Ouch, don’t push me.”
“You’re stepping on me.”
Soon, the banquet became chaotic.
Qin Yunuan held a glass of wine on the side and looked at Qin Yunzhuang’s panic as if she were watching a drama. At the same time, she was observing the reaction of the Queen Mother, and actually found that the Queen Mother also had a kind of indifferent look. It seemed that she had no interest in this kind of trivial matter, or she was waiting for something. To be more precise, she was waiting for Qin Yunuan to do something.
When the time was right, Qin Yunuan just made a gesture towards Leng Shuang who was behind him. Then, a stone of the size of a fingernail hit Qin Yunzhuang’s calf at a speed that normal people can’t see.
There was a loud thump, as Qin Yunzhuang fell heavily on the ground, together with the table and the fruit and wine on it. Her hair bun had been scattered, and her clothes were already filthy. She was shamed and embarrassed in front of the crowd. The once extremely proud first beauty of Qi was now lying on the ground like an underdog. At this moment, Qin Yunzhuang would rather find a hole in the ground and hide in there forever.
Her calves trembled as if she were cramping, but no one was willing to take the initiative to help her up. Queen Mother had invited the noble women in the Royal City today. These noble ladies had all been bullied by the arrogant mother and daughter before, so now they were quite sarcastic.
“Hey, who is this? How come she’s so rude? She must be a daughter of a concubine from some insignificant family.”
‘What are you talking about? I recognize this skirt. Isn’t she sister Yunzhuang from the mansion of Grand Commandant?”
“You’re talking nonsense. Sister Yunzhuang is always polite, how could she be so rude? Besides, sister Yunzhuang always dresses up nicely. How could a woman like this, who looks like a prostitute, be sister Yunzhuang?”
“Fair enough. I heard this morning that Mrs. Qin of the mansion of Grand Commandant had hanged herself in the Psycho Tower. If this is really sister Yunzhuang, it would be too unfilial to dress like this and attend the banquet since her mother just passed away.”
“Yeah, this must not be sister Yunzhuang.”
“Hanged herself? Mother had already hanged herself in the Psycho Tower?”
It was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day to her. Qin Yunzhuang got up from the ground immediately. She dragged her cramped legs and moved step by step to the woman who had just spoken. The forlorn and bitter sound was like coming from a ghost crawling out of an ancient well. “What do you mean? What happened to my mother? How could my mother hang herself? Is my mother already… already dead?” she said the word “dead” very lightly, because she couldn’t believe it and didn’t want to believe it.
“Oh, why? It turns out that Grand Miss Qin didn’t know it yet. The people in the Royal City have heard about it though. In the morning right after the young master of the Dou Family committed suicide in the Xiangguo Temple, Madam Qin also hanged herself with rope in the Psycho Tower. Alas. However, even if Madam Qin didn’t commit suicide, she won’t live long either. It was said that she was infected with leprosy in the Psycho Tower. It was a disease which patients feel extremely itchy. Some of them even scratch themselves to death, which is really….”
“You shut up! Don’t talk about my mother like this!” Qin Yunzhuang was acting like crazy and rushed towards that woman.
“Stop her!” Empress Chen suddenly ordered sternly, “This is the palace. How could we allow such a little crazy woman fooling around?”
